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Chapter 7 - The Glory Days (TCOK)
Wandering through the castle in a daze, Tubba stumbled down the stairs down to the absolute basement of the castle. There were a few dungeons and storage rooms in the basement, but below even the dungeons was a library, a library that had stood since the era of the ancient Clubba Empire. The original Clubba Castle was long gone, having collapsed many centuries ago, but because the library was carved right into the bedrock, once the new Clubba Castle was built on top of the ruins of the old one, the library remained, almost completely intact. The Clubba Empire was the predecessor to the Clubba Kingdom, having been the dominant force of the Mushroom World for six centuries, before it collapsed due to an unprecedented union between opposing species, nearly a millennium and a half ago. The Clubbas spoke longingly of those times, for the holy grail of “ruling the world” had been passed down the millenia in the Clubba Blubba family, themselves the descendants of the Clubban emperors. It was basic Clubban history that everyone knew the first Clubban Emperor and the father of the modern Clubba, so much so that he had transcended the rank of mortal and was now regarded as a god among the Clubbas today. Cloansar Blubbar - a distant ancestor of Tubba’s. Cloansar was the runt of his family, the youngest of six children, living in what is today Toad Town and the Shooting Star Summit area - the historical home of the Clubbas. The Blubbar family was just another Clubban family living in this village, with the father a close friend of the chieftain - the way to survive in ancient times. Alas, Cloansar’s peaceful childhood did not last long, as when he was still very young, his father and the current chieftain were killed in a power struggle. His mother tried to provide for the family, but she died of starvation as famine gripped Clubba Village - the friends of the old chieftain were to not receive rations. Cloansar, now seventeen and three years past Clubba adulthood, was left to brood as his older siblings began to care for him. A passion overtook him, where he recognized that the Clubbas were one of the strongest and genetically gifted species on the planet, and set his eyes on ensuring no Clubba met the long and painful end of his mother. Dismissed by his eldest brother as dreaming childishly, Cloansar trained with a fervor in battle, hoping to transcend his eternal weakness in his scrawny size, pioneering a new style of fighting for the Clubba - forging the weapon and the style that would become so common - the Clubban style of fighting reliant on the club. Although Clubbas had an ancient species name - Hipombrus - Cloansar’s exploits with the club ensured that history would remember his species by a different name - Clubba. As Tubba reached the bottom of the stone stairs and reached the dimly lit library, he reflected on those who wished to bring Cloansar down. They would point at the club being the source of his power - he gave himself an unfair advantage, is what the detractors would lead others to believe. Long after the club had caught on as an ideal weapon for the species, Cloansar won many battles club to club, so Tubba felt that Cloansar was no lucky Clubba with an unfair advantage. How could you believe that of the person who defined your species and had become a god in modern speech - it had be the Mushroomians or the Beans that doubted Cloansar. Not the Clubbas. Cloansar’s story was far from over. An aggressive split from his eldest brother led him to lead the family loyal to him to the farther reaches of the Mushroom World, stepping naturally into the role of leader despite being the youngest of his family. His followers would grow as Clubbas began to realize how special Cloansar was. But Cloansar’s big break came in the form of the person who would become his right-hand man - Maraon, the Spiked Clubba. Spiked Clubbas, as the name suggests, were Clubbas with spiked shells, larger bodies and burlier figures. If the Clubbas were to conquer the other species, Spiked Clubbas would have to be on their side. Maraon, with some persuasion, would align by Cloansar and become a steadfast ally in the Clubba’s quest to exert dominance over the Mushroom World. By 20, Cloansar had become the face of the Clubba species. Almost every Spiked and normal Clubba in the Kingdom had begun to regard him as their leader, becoming the foundation of the House of Blubbar, the first ruling house of the Clubba Empire. In ancient times, Clubbas lived in many villages spread across the Mushroom Mainland, where the chieftain and their close friends were part of certain houses, such as “House of Taranzabar,” “House of Clumber,” “House of Clubbith.” Cloansar’s rise to power was encompassing enough that these chieftains began to regard Cloansar as their ultimate leader - the House of Blubbar became the royalty, and the other houses the nobility. Tubba scanned all the books in the library, wandering aimlessly from aisle to aisle. Cloansar’s rise was not well documented, for he had just been an obscure Hipombrus during his rise. Yet, in the library, Cloansar’s consolidation of power was probably the most documented piece of Clubban history - the single most famous period in Clubban history. Unfinished after establishing his position as the ultimate leader of all the Clubbas, Cloansar decided it was time to set his Empire down. Cloansar chose a sandy gulch for the first Clubba Castle, modern day Gusty Gulch, and now, one of the only territories the Clubba Kingdom still held. In the subsequent six years, Cloansar began to allow his Clubban band of followers to take territory that had never been theirs. Few dared challenge the might of Cloansar, for the unequivocal support of the species behind him would make any ancient species shake. Those who did dare challenge Cloansar were soon suppressed, and by 26, Cloansar was presiding over the affairs of the entire Mushroom World - the first Clubban Emperor. He died at the mammoth age of 118, after ninety-two years atop the world. Cloansar became the symbol of Clubban dominance, and the ideal that had never been obtained since. His son and later descendants succeeded him on the throne of the Clubban Empire, marrying the many noble houses - the allure of joining the House of Blubbar was great - but none equalled Cloansar’s greatness in his sure-handed and steady leadership, or in placating the noble houses, or in holding onto the vast territory Cloansar secured in his ninety-two year reign. The fringe territories were already beginning to spread apart from the Empire a mere twenty years after the death of Cloansar. The eleventh Clubba Emperor would prove to be the last, for Habba Blubbar, a distant descendant of Cloansar, and therefore, a distant ancestor of Tubba, six hundred years after Cloansar, faced a challenge unlike any his predecessors as Emperor had faced. A rising alliance between the other species of the planet forced Habba into a difficult position. Unlike the Cloansar days, where the strength of the Clubban army was enough to ward off opponents, advancing technology prevented the army from having the final say. The alliance was a five-pronged one, with humans Toadstool, Eclair and Bean, the ape Kong, and the obscure, rather unknown Zazau, leading the charge. When Habba inevitably conceded defeat, the six leaders split the world into six Kingdoms. With two large pieces of land - the Mushroom Mainland, and today, the Waffle Kingdom - to decide over, and many tiny islands, the leaders came up with an agreement that remained more or less unchanged until present day. Toadstool would get the west side of the Mushroom Mainland, Bean the south, Habba the east, as the first Clubba King. To the northwest of the Mushroom Mainland was the second large piece of land, which would become the Waffle Kingdom, which Eclair received. To the east of the Mushroom Mainland was an archipelago with many tiny islands, taking the overall shape of a pepper, the area Kong was given. Far, far to the west of the Waffle Kingdom was a collection of islands, many islands, countless islands, and Zaz was given all of that - the entire west side of the world, primarily water. Zaz and his subsequent descendants kept to their own side of the world, leading them into obscurity in the eastern world. Even though the Clubba Empire had lasted six hundred years after the death of Cloansar, it had collapsed with a whimper, becoming merely just another Kingdom in the vast world. Cloansar was the Clubba Tubba strove to be. The ideal, the Clubba that outstripped his species to the extent that he redefined them. Tubba desired being the greatest Clubba King since Cloansar in the deepest recesses of his heart - he wanted history to remember him as the Clubba who took their glorious species back to their heyday, where they feared no species, ruled the entire world, dictated by no one. Those were the glory days. That was Cloansar. The next glory days would be led by Tubba II. Filling with confidence after remembering that Cloansar too, had detractors, Tubba began to make his way back up the stairs. Cloansar’s eldest brother doubted it. Tubba’s father doubting him wouldn’t be the end of the world.